Best PlacesWhitewater, WI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Whitewater, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Whitewater ranks 23,334th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cheap car insurance by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Whitewater
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
Whitewater's strengths and weaknesses
Where Whitewater ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 96% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 96% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 96% of towns
- BikingBetter than 95% of towns
- Short commute17.9 minutes each way, better than 93% of towns
Where Whitewater ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 2% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 13% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 15% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 19% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 20% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Whitewater
A household needs to earn about $73,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Whitewater home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $57,068, so buying stretches a typical household.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses Whitewater's effective rate of 1.41%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Whitewater
Whitewater runs younger than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Whitewater.
Who works in Whitewater, and how
Work in Whitewater centers on education and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 75%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 15%
Life in Whitewater
Whitewater has more restaurants and bars per resident than 79% of towns and more parkland per resident than 97% of towns. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Whitewater and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Whitewater, month by month
Whitewater sees roughly 73 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 30, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 30° | 24° | 18° |
| April | 60° | 48° | 38° |
| July | 84° | 74° | 64° |
| October | 64° | 53° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Whitewater
The nearest airport, Dane County Regional/Truax Field, is about 37 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Mitchell International, about 43 miles away.
The best schools in and around Whitewater
Schools across Whitewater average a C−, better than 26% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Williams Bay ElementaryB− · 42% proficient
- Lakeview ElementaryB− · 40% proficient
- Washington ElementaryB− · 40% proficient
Top middle schools
- Northside IntermediateB+ · 52% proficient
- Fort Atkinson MiddleB · 45% proficient
- Palmyra-eagle MiddleC · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- Williams Bay HighC+ · 37% proficient
- Fort Atkinson HighC · 31% proficient
- Milton HighC− · 26% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Whitewater school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Whitewater measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare Whitewater against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Whitewater
Is Whitewater a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Whitewater ranks 23,334th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, walkability, and fast internet, and lowest on an overheated housing market and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Whitewater expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $256,563. The overall cost of living runs about 8% below the national average. Set against a $57,068 median income, cost of living beats 15% of towns.
Is Whitewater safe?
Yes, Whitewater is safer than 62% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $297 per resident a year.
Compare Whitewater with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Whitewater. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Whitewater represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
Whitewater detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Whitewater: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Whitewater: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Whitewater: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Whitewater: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Whitewater detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.